Our hotel has always proudly welcomed and exhibited the work of the region’s fine crafters and artists. Our rooms, each with its own unique look, feature expressly commissioned craftwork or select works of art by Gaspé Peninsula artists and artisans. Their creative endeavours are also visible in the halls, common areas and dining room. Look around and enjoy these glimpses of our history and the beauty of our region.
De souvenance textile art
Julie Zaolie Tessier
Zaolie initially brought her flair to the Manoir in 2010 when she created a first collection of textile works specifically for the hotel. Each piece is directly inspired by the poetry in the room in which it is located.
Later, her project Prises dans vos filets took shape here during a creative residence at the Manoir. The original work, now exhibited at the Quai des arts, incorporates an old salmon fishing net in remembrance of the glorious 200-year heyday of the commercial salmon fishery in Carleton-sur-Mer. During her residence, she also created a series of small nets that you can admire in some of our rooms.
About Zaolie
Julie Zaolie Tessier is an artist inspired by memories who uses textile as her creative medium. Each of her projects is a unique work, but they have in common the vital need to keep our “loves” rooted in the land of the living. Her signature evokes an enduring affection for the things of the past, firmly anchored in the present.
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For more information:
- Facebook page Prise dans vos filets, souvenir d’un 250e festif et rassembleur
- Facebook page Zaolie, art textile de souvenance
- La fabrique culturelle video
A valued artisan
Germain Lafleur
For more than a decade, our resident artisan has played a crucial role making our hotel beautiful and unique. He is an invaluable member of the broad Belle Plage family. You can admire his work in the premium rooms, mountain side, and in the Cullen House rooms; he designed all the wooden furniture there. His genius is also apparent in the driftwood ornaments on the walls in the corridors and in some of the rooms, including those located next to poetry.
Woodland curiosities
Fernande Forest
Initially created in 2016, these photos of artistically modified organisms now hold permanent pride of place in the hall on the 3rd floor of our hotel. The wooden panels on which the photos are displayed were designed by Germain Lafleur, our esteemed artisan.
About Fernande Forest
Originally from Bonaventure on the Gaspé Peninsula, Fernande Forest now lives and works in Rimouski, where she’s had an active visual art practice for more than 30 years. Nature and the human being are central to her approach. She seeks to create a dialogue between the living and the virtual, generating a poetic reading of our reality and a different relationship with the real and the photographic medium.
For more information:
- Website Fernande Forest, art visuel et design
- Facebook page Fernande Forest – Art visuel
Breakfast room
Gallery space
Lumières d’octobre, by Carleton-sur-Mer photographer Marilyn Verge, are currently exhibited in the breakfast room.
Artist and hairdresser
Raynald Cullen
Artist and hair stylist, Raynald Cullen was a singularly original artist. Beginning in the 1960s and for several decades thereafter, he owned the house neighbouring the hotel, which today bears his name.
In 1967, he received the Premier prix de l’artisanat provincial de Québec (first prize for fine crafts in Québec) for Penouil le pêcheur, a folk art character made of natural things that can be found on a beach: shells, molluscs, rope, driftwood, etc. Throughout his life he gathered materials of all kinds left behind by nature. As a hair stylist, he created fantastic ship-shaped hairstyles that leave no one indifferent. Examples of his art include the three sailing vessels – Petite Hermine, Grande Hermine and Émérillon – that carried Jacques Cartier to Canada in 1535-1536. Visitors can admire these audacious up-dos in the lounge near the meeting room that bears the artist’s name.
Poetry
Appearing here and there on walls in the corridors and rooms in our hotel, you’ll find a number of texts by Gaspesian authors such as Johanne Morency, Jocelyne Maillet-Parent, France Cayouette, and many others.
Historian and author
Pascal Alain
Published in spring 2017 by Les Éditions GID, this first work by historian Pascal Alain, Carleton-sur-Mer, un regard sur le passé, features a series of commented photos that detail the rich past of Carleton-sur-Mer from 1860 to 1960. A copy is available in each room for consultation on the premises. And if you can’t go home without one, you can buy your own copy at the front desk for $35.
For more information:
- Website – Les éditions Gid
- Facebook page Pascal Alain – Auteur et historien